Dominican Republic is one of the greatest consumers of rice In Latin America and the Caribbean, with a per capita that averages 127 pounds per year (58 kilograms), according to the Inter -American Institute for Agriculture (IICA), thus exceeding the regional average consumption, which is around 40 and 50 kilograms.
In the opinion of the representatives of the rice sector, their production (of 14,045,000 quintals at the end of 2024), may continue without the affect of the decree issued by Donald Trump Last Thursday, which threatens to impose “duty reciprocal “to countries that take American products.
A “unlikely” scenario
The president of the Dominican rice union, Heraldo Suero, recalled that Trump’s decree compromises, above all, those countries with the largest commercial surpluses and the highest tariff rates to the detriment of the United States, which is not the case of The Dominican Republic.
“It is unlikely -although one can never ensure anything with Trump because part of its strategy It is to be unpredictable-, that in a country that has a commercial surplus with the United States as a Dominican Republic, can have repercussions with the measures it has taken, “he said.
In 2024, the country imported 666,222 quintals of rice through the Free Trade Agreement with the Dominican Republic, Central America and the United States (DR-CAFTA) under a tariff 11.84 %.
Imports
The Imports They were almost three times higher than the 213,355 quintals bought in 2023, representing the highest volume imported From the entry into force of the treaty From 2007, in which the tariff rate to zero in 2025 was agreed to gradually reduce.
Even within the current context, the president of the National Federation of Producers of Rice (Fenarroz), Marcelo Reyes, coincided with serum that the top of 23,300 metric tons established by President Luis Abinader in Decree 693-24-issued last December-will prevent the prices of the prices from collapsed rice Dominican in the local market before the advantage of importing rice From the United States with zero tariff.
In the last year, the pound of rice He has experienced a increase between 8 % and 14 % in the main markets of the great Santo Domingo, oscillating between the 33 pesos and the 39 pesos, report prices of the Ministry of Agriculture.
“The president (Abinader) took a measure to preserve the production National ricera with the same rights as the United States, “he said.
Both sector leaders recalled that the measure does not contravene he DR-CAFTAbecause it keeps the benefit of the tariff zero, whenever it is below the established amount.
Out of this fee, a 20 % tariff AD VALEEM Within the Tariff contingent, recognized by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and up to 99 % AD VALEEM Out of this, establishes the decree.
The production It supplies he consumption
The Ministry of Agriculture indicates that the average consumption of rice In the country it was 14.3 million quintals between 2019 and 2023.
The demand was covered almost entirely with the production local, which averaged the 13.8 million of quintals in that period.
Although the institution establishes that, as of October 2024, the production It was 11.8 million quintals, the rroids consulted establish that 2024 closed with a production of 14 million quintals, which shows the sustained growth of this high item consumption In the country.
Agriculture data show that, as of February 12 of this year, select rice rose 10.9 %, from 33 pesos in the same period of 2024, AA 36.33 pesos La Libra.
For its part, the select rice recorded an increase of 8.18 %, increasing from 36.67 pesos to 39.67 pesos.
The upper rice recorded the highest variation, placing in 14.26 %, (from 29.17 pesos to 33.33 pesos).
